Position in chronology
SAA 10 117. Occultation of Perseus (CT 54 258) [from astrologers]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [To the king of the lands, my lord: your servant] Bel-ušezib. May [Bel, Nabû and Šamaš] bless [the king, m]y [lord]! (3) [On the xth Perseus] approached the moon. (4) [If Perseus comes close to the top of the moon and stands there]: [the king] will go in triumph. (5) [......] his land will become extended. (Break) (r 2) [...... s]tand [...] (r 3) [......] will release and [...] some[body] (r 4) [......] Sin-eriba (r 5) [......] of Iddin-ahi, the criminal (r 6) [......] and [wrote] to the king about him (r 7) [......] saw and somebody (r 8) [......] he intends to (r 9) [......] the king…
Source: Parpola, S. 1993. Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars. SAA 10. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa10/P239192/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[a-na LUGAL KUR.KUR be-lí-ia ARAD-ka m]dEN—ú-še-zib / [dEN dAG u dUTU a-na LUGAL be-lí]-⸢ia⸣ lik-ru-bu / [x x x UD x-KÁM MUL.ŠU.GI a-na d]30 TE-ḫi / [1 MUL.ŠU.GI ana UGU 30 SI₄-ma GUB] LUGAL ina li-it-ti DU-ak / [x x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ KUR-su DAGAL-eš / [x x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ uk-tap-pat / [x x x x x x x x x x x x x] ⸢AN⸣ ḫur / [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / [x x x x x x x x x x…
Scholarly note
Letter from a scholar (astrologer, exorcist, physician, lamentation-priest) to Esarhaddon or Ashurbanipal, edited by Simo Parpola (SAA 10, 1993). ORACC text P239192.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P239192). source
Translation excerpted from Parpola, S. 1993. Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars. SAA 10. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa10/P239192/.
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